1. Discuss the clash between tradition and modernity (often figured as Westernization) in at least three works we have seen and/or read this past semester.
2. How do you interpret the representation of modern women/students in works we have seen or read this past semester, such as “Xiao Xiao,” Lust Caution, Eileen Chang’s essays, Xiao Hong’s stories, and Raise the Red Lantern? What cultural meanings are attached to modern women, and how do they differ from traditional female characters? (Or if you prefer, you can focus your essay on peasant female characters in works, such as “Xiao Xiao,” Red Sorghum, and Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress.)
3. Pick at least three poems by Bei Dao and discuss their use of nature imagery. What metaphorical meanings are attached to nature imagery, and what poetic scenes do the poems evoke through the use of nature imagery?
4. Discuss the portrayal of the family in the films we have watched this semester. Is the family depicted as a microcosm of society? How are interfamilial relationships depicted, and what symbolic or cultural meanings are connected with the family unit?
5. What do you consider to be the major differences between male and female writers whose works we have read this past semester in terms of their style of writing, treatment of history, depiction of women, use of imagery, etc.?
6. What do you see as the major differences between pre-Mao writings by Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Xiao Hong, Zhang Ailing, and Lao She and post-Mao literary works that we have watched adaptations of, including Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Raise the Red Lantern, In the Heat of the Sun, and Mojin The Lost Legend in terms of Western influence, cultural critique, the impact of commercialization, etc.? (If you want, you can focus on any one of these elements.) How has Chinese literature changed and developed over the course of the 20th century?
7. Compare and contrast the depiction of life in the rural village in works, such as “Xiao Xiao” and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, with the representation of the city in Lao She’s Rickshaw Boy and Eileen Chang’s writings. What different cultural meanings are attached to the rural and to the Westernized city?
8. A recurrent theme in modern Chinese literature is that of the interaction between the educated elite and the rural poor, a theme found in “Xiao Xiao” and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. How do you understand and interpret the relationship between different social classes portrayed in these works?
9. Compare and contrast the portrayal of the Cultural Revolution in Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and Wang Shuo’s In the Heat of the Sun.
10. Compare and contrast two or more literary works with their film adaptations. What do you see as the key differences between literary and filmic versions, and how do you analyze and understand these differences?
11. Create a paper topic of your own comparing at least two or more literary works and/or films we have watched this past semester. Your paper should have a thesis or main argument that you prove, and it should also give you a chance to show the knowledge you have gained this past semester about Chinese literature and film.
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